In the description on the title page for this theatre, I’m not sure that the statement “…the empty building was destroyed by fire…” is entirely accurate. I have heard news reports stating that the fire damage was largely confined to the lobby, with smoke damage throughout the rest of the building, including the two adjoining stores. Other reports that the damage estimate is $750K. In any case, the building is still standing and the roof appears to be intact. As I recall, the lobby had been “redecorated” with wood paneling on the walls, the type you would have put in your finished basement in the 1970s, those thin 4'x8' sheets.

By Maura Zurick, Northeast Ohio Media Group
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on December 08, 2014 at 3:09 PM, updated December 08, 2014 at 7:02 PM

PARMA, Ohio — After the dust cleared Monday, piles of brick, glass and metal littered the Ridge Road spot where the Parma Theater stood for 78 years.

The demolition came with no warning, said Mayor Tim DeGeeter, who learned of the wrecking ball from Councilwoman Deborah Lime, who worked with the Friends of the Parma Theater to try to save it.

“This morning’s demolition came as a surprise to us,” DeGeeter said in a statement. “As this is private property, the city has no standing in this. Our concern is making sure that our residents are safe, that the demolition is done properly and in compliance with city laws.”

The theater closed in 2012, and shortly after, a fire started in the lobby causing $750,000 of damage. The blaze was ruled arson by the Ohio Division of State Fire Marshal and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, and the case is still open.

The Friends of Parma Theater tried to save the movie theater from the wrecking ball for nearly two years. Lime said she found out about the demolition from Facebook and phone calls.

“There truly will be a huge void and a loss to the area with the theater gone,” she said and thanked the volunteers who tried to save it.

The efforts to save the theater spanned from impractical, including a resident’s plan to buy the theater for $1 and convert it into a cat sanctuary, to fundraising to turn it into a community arts center.

Owner Norman Barr had to fix 20 building code violations or tear the theater down before Dec. 11 court date.

Demolition crews started around 8 a.m. By mid-afternoon the front of the theater was a pile of debris.

“As a resident of Polish Village and Parma I am deeply saddened and dismayed that the owners have chosen to demolish the building,” said Kathy Mabin, a member of the Friends of Parma Theater.

Mabin said Barr gave the Friends an inflated price and unreasonable time limit, only after the theater was the subject of news coverage.

“So now the community will suffer, gone is the history, gone is the hope to reclaim the building and make the space useful, and what is left behind is a gaping hole left by their destruction,” she said.

Parma resident Wayne Mesker, one of the original members of Friends of Parma Theater, came to watch the theater where he saw “Transformers” and “Spider Man” come down.

“It’s a sad day here in Parma,” Mesker said. “It didn’t have to be this way.”

The city has done whatever it has to do to allow a CVS Drug Store to be built on the site of the Parma Theatre.

The Parma residents are ecstatic – after all, no CVS here would mean people would have to continue traveling a half mile north to Walgreens or RiteAid, or 1.5 mi. to the south to visit Walmart, Target or Marc’s – oh! the drudgery!
/sarc